Fast Track would circumvent normal Congressional review processes, restricting debate and limiting Congress to an up or down vote on trade policy that would permanently change the balance of power, allowing global corporations to sue our government if economic and environmental policies limit their “future anticipated profits.” A fast track bill could be introduced in Congress any day, and Congress in Washington DC is closely following the debate in Seattle. Join us at full City Council hearing from 2-4 pm and vote to make sure Seattle votes YES on this historic resolution!

THE BATTLE IS ON and once more it’s in Seattle; as goes Seattle, so may go the rest of the nation. If you can’t make it to the City Hall, please call the Council members so they hear from us not just the opposition at this crucial moment.
The message should be that the TPP, negotiated in secret, with no public involvement, has harmful provisions that threaten Seattle’s ability, as well as the state of Washington’s ability, to protect our environment, health, and worker’s rights. This is due to investor state provisions in the TPP that allow multi-national corporations to sue governments in secret trade tribunals when they believe a law or regulation harms their profits. Seattle needs to stand up and oppose this attack on our sovereignty.

Here is an easy way to e-mail them: council@seattle.gov.

I ask that you call also. At a minimum, please call the first five. Here are the numbers:

A number of local organizations have been working with a couple of members of the Seattle City Council (Mike OBrien and Kshama Sawant) to bring a resolution forward against the TPP (the secret Trade Agreement that corporations are hoping will get fast-tracked very soon by congress). Support was building and a plan was formed to bring the resolution to committee on March 17th and to the full council on March 23rd. BUT this work drew the attention of business interests and the Obama administration and they are now pushing back hard. AS GOES SEATTLE, SO MAY GO THE NATION!

It is time now to make sure Seattle Council members know where we stand on this egregious coup by the multinational corporations over WE THE PEOPLE.

PLEASE CONTACT THEM RIGHT AWAY, and get your family members and friends to do so also. They need to hear from us as soon as possible or the resolution may be dropped!

The message should be that the TPP, negotiated in secret, with no public involvement, has harmful provisions that threaten Seattle’s ability, as well as the State of Washington’s ability, to protect our environment, health, and worker’s rights. This is due to investor state provisions in the TPP that allow multinational corporations to sue governments in secret trade tribunals when they believe a law or regulation harms their profits. Seattle needs to stand up and oppose this attack on our sovereignty.

Both parties may be counting on us to be exhausted and out of the loop when it comes to this ghastly Trade Agreement which has been kept out of the public eye. And in the spirit of compromise, it could easily be passed to show a country weary with gridlock that compromise is possible. Furthermore our representatives from WA believe that TRADE is good for our State which it is. BUT now is not the time to compromise on this potential corporate take-over.

Why can’t our trade negotiators deliver a trade policy that raises living standards in communities at home and abroad? Following the 2014 elections the U.S. government is going to make a push to pass the new mega-trade agreement, the Trans Pacific Partnership, using Fast Track. This agreement, negotiated by corporate lobbyists while the public is kept in the dark, threatens everything from food safety and access to medicines to green energy policy, internet freedom, and labor rights. It also gives corporations ‘investor-states’ rights so they can sue localities, countries, states for depriving them of their hypothetical profits if they insist on sticking to the democratically-determined laws and regulations.

Everything we work for [GMO labeling, environmental protection, food-safety laws] can be overturned or cost us millions of dollars in ‘damages’ we will pay to these corporations!!! We need a new, transparent, accountable, and democratic process, not an antiquated and extreme Fast Track procedure. Help us send a message that Washingtonians want trade policy that lifts up people and the planet, not just the corporate bottom line!

As if pushing Fast Track for a secretive pact weren’t bad enough, the corporations behind the TPP are now hoping to sneak the Fast Track vote into the Lame Duck session — after the elections, when political accountability is at its lowest. The good news is that we’ve stopped Fast Track before and we can do it again. If we all speak out loudly enough, we can derail Fast Track this November and into the future. Join groups across Washington State and the U.S. to Stop the Sneak Attack on Democracy!

We will be outdoors, so dress for the weather. We will have light boards, flashlights, petitions, and more information on how to stay involved and next steps in the campaign!

The November 8 – 14 Week of Action against Fast Track comes as President Obama and other heads of state visit Asia to discuss the TPP, and right as the Lame Duck session of Congress begins to get underway. It’s a time of year when a lot of people take a break after the elections, and start getting ready for the holidays. We need your help remaining vigilant so that Fast Track does not sneak through then or ever.